The Era of Waste Disposal

USM changes the method of waste and recycling disposal after years… but why?

By: Cayley Bowman, Community Editor

 

On September 25, 2023, Upton-Hastings experienced a trash fire caused by a lithium battery. The fire did not spread, however the sprinklers caused extensive damage and displaced 23 students living in the dorm. Exactly a week later, on October 2, a second trash fire ignited in Upton-Hastings, but what caused it was not released. As a result of this, 47 more students from two different floors were displaced due to additional water damage. The university cooperated with the Maine Fire Marshal’s Office, but not much else was released to students after that. This left students coming up with their own theories, the most popular one being that there was an arsonist living in Upton-Hastings. 

 

Months later, when students returned to campus for the spring semester, it was clear that one thing had changed. In every dorm building, all trash rooms and indoor disposal areas (except for in communal bathrooms) had been removed. There are now dumpsters outside the dorms for trash and small bins for recycling. Although the university was doing what they were told by the Maine Fire Marshal’s Office, this change in the trash and recycling system had many students irate. 

 

Student A: No one is following the new trash rules anyway. People are throwing it away in the bathrooms, which makes the hallways smell of trash and the bathrooms almost unbearable to be in. You can’t really blame people for doing it either, it is cold and sometimes icy. Not to mention, when it becomes warm, and there are heat waves, the campus is going to smell like hot trash everywhere. 

 

Student B: It’s not the worst thing in the world, it’s just tedious and unnecessary. Installing cameras right over the trash cans or the hallway entrances is the smart thing to do if you are investigating an arsonist, which is most likely the cause of the trash fires. It might be an invasion of privacy to an extent, but it also helps keep residents safe. It feels like USM is trying to save money or just prevent fires from the inside of the building, even though there are still trash cans in the bathrooms. 

 

Student C: I hate it. I’ve been using the trash bathrooms, but they don’t clean the bathrooms or take out the trash often enough (maybe once a week, I have noticed). So all of the trashes in the bathrooms are overflowing. It is winter, and people do not want to go out and take the trash out every day. We have room for trash, we should be able to use them. It wasn’t the trash that started the fire, it was a person who did it. 

 

Student D: I think it is ridiculous, considering we can have trash cans in the laundry rooms, bathrooms, and the lobby. I miss being able to throw my cup away right outside my hall instead of having to fill up a trash bag per day now. It also puts people in a difficult position if they cannot afford trash bags or don’t have a trash can. It is especially difficult because some people have a large amount of recyclables and cardboard, but the recycling bins outside get filled up quickly. I would also rather not have to throw my trash all the way behind my building in the pouring rain or when there is black ice everywhere. I think there could have been multiple alternatives instead of this. 

 

Student E: I think it was a decision made without much foreplanning or actual consideration of the consequences or how students would feel about it. 

 

Although the Fire Marshal’s office was the one to implement the dumpsters and bins outside, the university could have offered alternative ideas as to how to mitigate the risk of another trash fire. Students all over the Gorham campus are displeased with how this has been handled, but nothing is likely to change. The university’s priority is to keep students safe, and they believe that this is the best way, even if students are not happy.